The Infinitesimal Hope
by Makazi
Summary: After conferring with his brother, Scar visits the hyenas to inform them of his failure.


**A/N:** Written for the MLK Writing Contest #35, my prompt was: "If Scar wasn't bad".

* * *

Scar watched as the sun torpidly fell from the sky, the clouds above emblazoned with hues of saffron, vermillion and lavender. The cold wind tousled his fur, and he saw the stars scintillating in the vast expanse of the welkin, looking down on his corporeal existence with stoic regard. However, the gentle susurrus of the night did little to nought for his obfuscated mood, and he found himself sighing quietly.

He closed his eyes, listening to the thrum of crickets and the distant song of a lark. He tried to focus on the blessings he had been given, but it was a vain attempt.

With a slow and defeated gait he rose from his bluff overlooking the Pridelands and turned towards the tenebrific Shadowlands. He plodded along steadily, head hung low with the weight of admitting defeat. It was not an easy thing for him to do. Defeat always had a way of prodding his infirmities, making him feel inferior to others – especially to his brother, who had emotionally crushed him earlier that day. Though he had managed to hide his pain behind a mask of apathy, he felt utterly destroyed. He could only hope that the hyenas would condole with him, because he had failed them most of all.

Eventually his paws led him to the edifice of the elephant that had died long ago in a time that no one alive still remembered. It was a morbid sight, but Scar couldn't help feel at peace. Perhaps it was the silence of the place, or the way in which the creature was eternally resting and free from strife – either way, it assuaged his pain – if only slightly.

That pain was renewed, however, when he saw three twinkling pairs of eyes gazing out at him. Quickly the trio of hyenas bounded down the tusks, approaching him with fervor and hope in their hearts. He tried not to meet their gazes, but it was no use. Banzai looked at him, brows furrowed. "So is everything okay? Is he gonna let us...you know."

Scar looked at him silently, his eyes telling the hyena everything he needed to know.

"Oh," Banzai scuffed the ground with his paw, glancing away. "But you said..."

" _I know what I said!_ " the lion snapped, causing the trio to flinch. "I..." His body trembled slightly as he choked back a sob. Ed tilted his head at Scar, addled more than ever. Scar glanced up at Shenzi. "Can we talk alone?"

Uncertainly, the female hyena looked at her acquaintances. "Surely whatever you need to say y-"

"Please?"

After a moment's consideration, Shenzi nodded and stood, giving the others a terse farewell before ambling off with Scar. They came to the bank of a dried riverbed, the desiccated dirt around it faded and grey. Though there was nought to drink, nor any gentle thrum of flowing water to soothe them, they sat down quietly and gazed upon it as if hoping for it to be otherwise. They sat there in silence for several minutes, and then Scar finally spoke in a broken whisper. "Nothing's fair."

Shenzi looked at the dark lion before her, saying nothing.

"Him and I are so close, I sometimes feel like I could apprise him of every secret I've ever had and he'd be okay with it. I could tell him about the time when I was younger and was hunting in the Outlands, or the time I went on an adventure when I told mother I would be asleep," he continued after a pause. "And yet whenever I attempt to broach this subject with him, this _one_ subject, he tells me I'm an idiot and that it's _never_ going to happen for as long as he lives." Grimacing, the lion ran his claws through the dirt. "Am I asking too much of him?"

Shenzi pursed her lips and stared at the ground as she considered his words, attempting not to give in to the whimsy of her sadness. "Because he has faith in you doesn't mean he has faith in us," she said finally.

"But he _should,"_ Scar replied, as if pleading to Mufasa himself. "I've done nothing that would lead him to distrust me. I would never in a million years say or do anything to hurt him..." He felt something on his shoulder, and he turned to see Shenzi smiling at him – it was a faint smile laced with pain – but it was there, nonetheless. He wasn't able to return the expression, so after an awkward moment she retracted her paw and sighed. "I let you down," he said blankly.

Shenzi shook her head. "You did what you coul–"

"And I _failed,_ " he interrupted petulantly.

" _You did what you could,"_ she repeated. "It's more than we could ever ask for. It doesn't matter if you failed, because you cared enough to try." The hyena tried another smile, but it had no effect whatsoever.

When Scar spoke next, it was in a voice so low and tenuous that Shenzi had to strain to hear it. "I want nothing but the best for you guys, you know that...it's the least I can do for my friends."

"Well maybe 'the best' isn't something we're meant to have," she offered with a diminutive shrug.

Scar glared at her, his disposition turning to anger. "Don't you _ever_ say that," he said, jabbing her in the chest with a paw. She winced slightly. "You three were always there when I needed you, so I can't stand to see you suffer like this – I won't stand for it."

Shenzi's gaze fell to her paws. "Yeah..."

After a moment his anger melted back into sadness. "Sorry...you didn't deserve that."

"It's okay."

"Is it ever?" he countered with a feeble laugh. "Maybe my brother's right. Maybe I'm just an idiot."

Then, Shenzi did something he wasn't expecting: She leaned against his side. Scar found himself at a loss for words, mind racing at a million miles per second. "Look," she said, oblivious to his discomfort. "You did your best, and that's what counts. Maybe someday if you keep trying he'll listen to you."

"By the time it's too late, perhaps..."

Shenzi tried her best not to face-paw. "It won't be. You just keep chipping away at that impenetrable exterior of your brother's, and eventually he'll listen to you. Trust me."

Scar didn't reply to that. Instead he found himself increasingly befuddled by her proximity. He leaned away from her, hoping that would get the message across.

She smirked at him. "Not one for comforting, eh?"

He considered his words. Then, uncertainly he said, "No, I am. I'm just not...in the mood for it right now." He looked away awkwardly.

She raised her eyebrows, whistling lightly. "Not in the mood for comfort? You must be _really_ upset."

He smiled faintly at that. "You haven't the slightest idea."

For the next several hours they sat there beneath the stars, watching as the constellations slowly made their way across the sky. Though they were in the depths of the Shadowlands where almost nothing lived, Scar could still hear the lark's song lilting through the dead silence. It was a barely perceptible tune that was lambent upon the wind, but he allowed himself to think that the song it sung was meant for the two of them and them alone. It was a capricious thought, but it was all he had to bolster his courage in the face of the toils to come. Perchance, if fate allowed, there would come a time when lions and hyenas could walk softly beneath the light of the moon in tandem; where the primordial feuds were long forgotten. It was an infinitesimal hope, but he could dream.


End file.
